The Crushed Mountain

Chapter One: The Blue Eyes

"For my home was no longer a pleasant place to be. I must count what little blessing I had left to move on. My world is split in two, and all I can think is how we didn't listen to the Creator." - The King

The Queen sat on her thrown with her king's chair beside her. It has been months since the king's passing and the queen had last spoken to her people. I sat there on my chair as I gazed at her quirked brows and twiddling fingers. She looked tired, fatigued. I pondered her motives. Why would she want the king dead? That can't be. The Queen wasn't a murderer. Just as I rose from my post, my friend and greatest ally came to my side. "Mierah, the captain has informed me that you are relieved from your post." I turned to him and shook his hand as custom of the trading of one's post. "Get some rest." I nodded with a smirk and walked through the door to the Royal hall.

I walked through the castles main doors to the main plaza. Green and spotted with multicolored blooms, the many plants waved in the wind and the blue sky contrasted the horizon in a blue border with the treeline. It was so bright. "MIERAH!!" a panicked voice suddenly called. I turned as a tight hand grabbed my arm. "Frank! What is it?" I explained He had blood seeping from his left eye socket. I gasped. "William... The Queen..." he said in a struggling manner.

I thrust the doors open. He stood over her. The Queen's upper left part of her chest was exposed and torn apart with her ribs scattered. Her lung puffed out of her chest like violet fleece and her veins pumped her blood out onto her dress. "William..." I barely breathed out. "He turned and began to walk towards me. I panicked and backed into the wall. He face was gruesome, black voids for eyes and hanging from his mouth The Queen's veins. "William..." I whispered. I screamed. The side of his head appeared a knife. I was hyperventilating. William fell to the floor. At that exact moment, behind him, I saw the blue eyes.

"Mierah..." I flinched. "Mierah!" I opened my eyes. The sun was bright. I had a large wound on my hand. "Mierah..." I sat up in a rush and the sun lay low in the horizon.  There was no one by my side, just the cool air had greeted me earlier this afternoon. I turned my body around to face the doors to the castle, and shattered inside. The doors hung from their hinges, splintered and scratched like a wild animal burst through. A loud crack was heard. I turned my head to the garden's gate and rose in awe. A deep shadow disappeared around the wall. The light began to turn gold and red as the sun began to set. And I wandered towards the gate, hand on my sword.

A burst of wind came from the clouds as I stepped through the gate. I gripped my sword tighter than ever; I never felt so afraid. Out of the corner of my eye, a set of blue eyes appeared. I gasped, just the shadows of the rose bushes. I heart leapt out of my chest and pounded like a drum. My heartbeat rose to my throat and rang in my ears. "Mierah..." I choked in a breath and unsheathed my sword. I continued down the path and paused by the fountain. I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. "It's not real..."  "Mierah..."

The blue eyes.

They shined like stars. A malevolent aura rose from the pupils and the sun set at such quick pace behind them. Except for light of the blue eyes, I was suddenly shrouded in darkness. I took in shallow breathes, "Why can't I move?" I thought to myself. In a great shudder of movement, I swung my sword between the two; they vanished. I felt a falling sensation. I dropped my sword and gripped the new edge that formed beneath me. I looked down into a void of darkness. "Not going there." I heaved myself out and reviewed my hand. There was no wound. I placed myself safely onto the path of the garden. Not a wound, but a mark. Why would I take this time to look at my hand?

My sword lay a foot away as I rose to leave. I picked it up to replace it into my sheath when I felt something wet. It flowed from the edge of my sword. I did injure it. With that, I sprinted out of the garden to go to the The Queen's throne room. There must be answers there.

I stumbled to a halt to keep myself from tripping over William's body. The knife protruded the right side of his cranium. I turned to the right to see the doors, that were always closed opened. "Now I'm acting like a knight." I let out some steam. I stepped over Will's body and continue right, but stopped. The Queen's body was no longer there, just a pool of blood. Everything was happening too fast. Where did it go? I turned towards the doors. I never felt this way; not in battle, not in darkness, not even during the plague. I've seen so many things horrid and disfigured. But this was different. She was there. She beckoned me over. She held out her hand from the door way. "No." I held out my hand. "No." I took a step forward. She smiled, a wretched bloody smile. "No." I clenched my teeth. I brought out my sword with my free hand, the one with the mark. I lifted it to her throat; I was too close for comfort. She frowned gruesomely and suddenly lunged at me. In a quick motion, her head fell to my feet with that wrong smile. It must be the Border. I lowered my sword, "The Border is here, and it's opening." I whispered to myself, still starring at her grinning head. "Damn right it is." I felt this voice rise from the grounds. I turned too William's body that was now up right and proceeding to remove the knife from head. I watched him calmly pick the tissues left in his teeth. "Wi-..." he opened his eyes and glared in my direction. I felt a cold wind blow in from the open doors. "Stay away from him." I froze. "He is not the one you use to know." A hand landed on my hand, keeping my sword down. It was a heavenly skin tone, clean and protective. It can't be real.

Will lunged towards me. His teeth bared and his eyes were surprisingly gentle, mesmerizing. Before I even registered a threat, Will's head fell to the ground. I shuddered. "Come now, don't panic." The being glided to my façade. He was tall, strong, and a halo circled over his head, yet he had no wings. I took hold of my sword. "There's no need for that." He pushed it down. "Come on, there's no need to stay here. The Border has opened." He took me my by the arm and we began to walk outside. I looked down at The Queen's head, at Will's head, and wondered what am I in all this? Just as he lead me outside the throne room, a pair of sorrowful blue eyes appeared with a dark mass. They looked misunderstood.

(Finished)